Shadowed Legions: The Black Cross
by LuckyMeStuckWithYou
Summary: An alliance between Konoha and the Akatsuki lead to...well, a lot of drama, heart-break and pain. I guess you could say there was some happiness in the midst of it all, but between the newly rising clans of pure malevolent evil and having the tendency to forget the things that matter, Sakura, Sasuke, and the rest of the gang are in for a helluva ride. First fanfic, R/R please! AU


**A/N: This'll be slightly AU, I think? I think...SO NO PROMISES.**

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**Disclaimers: I don't own Naruto.**

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**Sakura's POV:**

Today started off like any day; me landing on the floor after rolling around in my sheets. _Yay_.

Jumping off the floor in haste, I muttered unintelligible curses under my breath, ripping the snow-white sheets away from my body. Was I late already? I wasn't sure. Glancing at the clock as I ran to the bathroom, I muttered under my breath, "15 minutes."

Throwing myself into the shower, I turned the taps and soaked my skin, relishing the warm kisses of the rising steam. Knowing I had no time to waste, I lathered my hair and skin, washing it off mere moments later.

"If only I could spend some more time in the shower." I grumbled, stepping out and wrapping myself up in my towel. "Stupid need of sleep."

Running down the hallway, I fumbled with my hair, towel-drying it as quick as I could. "Ten minutes, damn it..." I swore, throwing my closet door open. I grabbed the first thing that reached my hand and plucked a set of underwear from my drawer.

It took me two minutes to throw everything on and run a brush through my hair.

"Alright, 5 minutes to eat!" I cheered myself on while plodding down the stairs. "Go, Sak! That's better than yesterday 3 minutes!"

What a sad, sad life.

Just as I started pouring myself some cereal, I heard the doorbell ring.

"What...? He's early." I whined while throwing the door open. "Naruto, you-"

"Tsunade wants to see us." He sounded serious, his voice strained. "Said it was really important."

"What?" I asked, somewhat warily. 'Important' was never good. 'Important' was never safe. Then again, what ninja's life was exactly 'safe'?

"Yeah, everybody else is already there so we better hurry."

"Oh...kay..."

_Oh, if only I knew what 'important' meant._

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We walked, side by side, into Tsunade's office, where everybody else was already gathered. Who do I mean by 'everybody else', you ask? Well...

There was Hinata, the shy, quiet princess. Oh, and long-time crusher of Mister Naruto Uzimaki.

There was Neji, cousin of Hina-chan. The quiet one of the group, yet unbelievably strong.

Lee, of course, with his 'brotherly' love (okay, so I _knew_ it was more than brotherly love but I wasn't intending on returning it).

Temari, Shikimaru, Ino, Kiba, Tenten...did I miss anyone? Oh, right...the ever-brooding Sai; the third (and last) number of Team 7.

"Finally. _Took_ you long enough, Sakura." Ino grumbled as soon as we stepped over the threshold.

"Yeah, Ino-pig, nice to see you too." I smirked, rolling my eyes. "Hey guys."

A round of welcomes and greetings followed (we never really had the time to relax as a group anymore), only to be silenced by Tsunade raising her hand up. Silently, Naruto and I went over to where Sai sat.

"Alright." Tsunade began. "As you all know, we...we've been having some more problems with the Akatsuki lately."

Everybody in the room either snarled something unintelligible under their breath or nodded, looking grim. We've _all_ had recent tussles with their teams; they were either attacking shrines, or attacking villages. At times, they were attacking both.

"Well...we've received word from them about an...alliance. A truce, in a sense. More of an alliance, though."

I sucked in a breath in disbelief. An alliance? The amount of bloodshed that could save...

"An alliance with those asses?" Shikimaru asked, sounding somewhat skeptical. "Impossible. They'll stab us in the back as soon as we turn. Literally."

"If it is possible, we should at least consider it, Shiki." Hinata said softly. "I mean, think of all the trouble it'll save, all of the deaths..."

"I agree." Sai spoke up.

"When will this...'discussion' take place?" I asked, my head started to hurt. Meeting with the Akatsuki meant-

"Right now."

Sounds of protest and disbelief filled the air, and that's when the door was thrown open, and in stepped Madara, followed closely by Team Hawk.

By _Sasuke_.

I couldn't look at him, I just couldn't. I'd break; I could tell that was the case for not only me, but for everybody in the room. _He used to be one of us_.

"Ah, Tsunade." Madara sneered. "What a _pleasure_. You considered our offer. No doubts about us stabbing you in the back almost immediately?"

"_See_?" Shiki hissed, only to be slapped over the head by Temari.

"Don't worry, Shiki, we were all thinking it." Naruto assured him with a slight grin, before wincing. "Ouch."

"Still hurts?" I asked, worried. We'd just come back from a heavy-duty mission, literally two hours ago. Hence why I was so tired; I only got one hour of sleep.

"I'll survive. You and that gash?"

"Didn't have time to stitch it." I answered, grumbling. "Was gonna do it once I got to the hospital."

"Ah..."

"Yeah."

We lapsed into a silence, listening to Madara and Tsunade work out kinks in the alliance. It was...awkward, to say the least. Team Hawk sat on the other side of the room, opposite to our teams, just staring at the floor (well, that chick named 'Karin' was staring at Sasuke...) as we were.

"Alright. That'll work." Tsunade loud tone shook us out of the solemn, tired reverie we'd all fallen into. "I'll tell them now. You can go."

"Oh, but why should I? I want to see their reactions." Madara said sadistically, and suddenly I was scared of what they decided on.

"Madara..." Tsunade warned, a dangerous light in her eyes.

"Oh, stop. Let me have s-"

Tsunade sighed, interrupted him. "Alright, teams, step forward please. That includes your team, _Uchiha_."

We all came to gather around her desk, intent on finding out what all of this was about. Or, more or less, what it came down to.

"The terms of the alliance have been set." Tsunade, her voice dull. Right away, I could tell something was off. Way off.

"What are the terms, exactly?" Sai asked, sounding bored. Tsunade glared at him.

"We aid each other whenever need be, and Madara here won't attack anybody," she explained.

"Alright...and how long is this 'alliance' set in place?" I asked.

"One year. Longest Madara would agree to."

_That wasn't long enough_. Tsunade's eyes screamed the same message.

"How are we to keep the alliance set?" Tenten asked, curious. Right away, Tsunade's nostrils flared and her eyes brightened considerably. Madara laughed, delighted.

"Ah, thank you for asking, my dear." Madara laughed, stretching an arm out at her. Neji, snarling, stepped protectively in front of the girl.

"Girls, I...there was no other option." Tsunade sighed, suddenly looking put out. "Promise there'll be no hard feelings.

"Tsunade...you're scaring me..." Ino told her. A rare feat, if you ask me; _nothing_ scared Ino.

"Well, to keep the alliance set...there'll have to be an arranged marriage between a female on any of the teams and a member of Team Hawk."

What.

The.

_Fuck_.

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**A/N: Muwhaha. Review with your love, please? **


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